EDUCATION

Answersheets not enough for maths paper
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, March 9
Mr Rajinder Krishan Sharma, president, Association of the PSEB- affiliated Schools, said in a written press note yesterday that maths paper of Class VIII, which was conducted by the PSEB, caused a lot of inconvenience to the students. The inconvenience was caused as the answersheets provided to the students were not enough to solve a lengthy mathematics paper.

The maths paper has 25 questions and the answersheets provided were insufficient. Many students could not complete their papers due to shortage of answersheets.

Mr Sharma has appealed to the Chairman of the PSEB to increase the numbers of sheets for mathematics paper so that the students could not face difficulties in future.

Interaction: An interaction by Roshni, NGO, members with women teachers and educational administrators was held yesterday at NM Jain Model Senior Secondary School.

Dr D.J. Singh, president, Roshni, highlighted the importance of women's participation at all levels and steps to be taken for ensuring healthy and supportive working environment around them.

Sankalp Divas: Sankalap Divas was celebrated yesterday in Master Tara Singh College to mark International Women's Year here yesterday. A panel discussion was held by the faculty and students on female foeticide. Self- composed poems on the topic were recited. Dr Madanjit Kaur Sahota, Principal of MTS College, urged the students to check this menace and said the women should realise their mettle and empower themselves.

Farewell: Students of the Department of Computer Science, Guru Nanak Girl College, Model Town, bid farewell to students of BCA Final Year, M.Sc IT final year and PGDCA at a party hosted by them here yesterday.

Charu Gabba was crowned Farewell while Aman Grewal and Miss Sandeep Kaur were selected as first and second runners-up. Daisy Ahuja, Amarjeet and Satinderjeet were the judges on the occasion.

Seminar on service sector kicks off
Our Correspondent

Mandi Gobindgarh, March 9
A three-day national seminar on “Service sector management”, sponsored by the All-India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), began on the Regional Institute of Management and Technology (RIMT) campus today. The seminar was inaugurated by Bonanza Portfolio Ltd., New Delhi, managing director Shiv Kumar Goyal.

Delegates from different organisation deliberated upon various aspects of service sector.

Welcoming the chief guest and delegates, RIMT group of educational institutes chairman Hukam Chand Bansal said the institute had been committed to providing platform to discuss issues of paramount importance to the corporate world.

He thanked the AICTE for supporting the seminar.

Institute director Dr B.S. Bhatia said the contribution of service sector to the Indian economy was increasing and it had become largest employment generator. Hence, it was crucial to deliberate upon its various issues.

Mr Goyal said savings rate, GDP, etc. were contributing towards the rapid growth of these services.

He said financial services were growing at a fast pace and had immense potential.

In his presidential address, Ludhiana Stock Exchange executive director H.S. Sidhu stressed the need for better delivery system in the service sector.

Shourya Towers, Noida, GM (marketing) S.J. Singh in his keynote address emphasised the role of special economic zones in exports and added that these were attracting entrepreneurs.

A. Mustafa Musvi of Orable Infotech, Hyderabad, said training and shortage of skilled manpower were the major challenges faced by IT companies.

Mr Bansal presented mementoes to the speakers.

Prof Jagdeep Singh and Prof Ranjeev Chopra, conveners of the seminar, said the seminar had been divided into three sub-themes —economic infrastructure, financial sectors and social infrastructure.

Around 100 scholars from educational institutes and industry were expected to present their paper in the seminar.

Former Vice-Chancellor, Punjabi University, Patiala, Dr J.S. Puar will be the chief guest on the valedictory function on March 11, while Punjab Technical University Registrar M.S. Grewal will preside over the function.

Women urged to reprioritise lives
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, March 9
LR DAV College, Jagraon, celebrated International Women’s Day by organising a function on the college premises today. Human rights activist and municipal councillor Pushpa Jhanji was the chief guest. In her address, she exhorted the women folk to liberate themselves from age-old inhibitions.

Prof Saneh Prabha Gupta, Dr Shailja Goyal and Prof Malkiat Kaur in their speeches wanted women to come forward and reprioritise their lives.

DAV School Principal Mrs Kapahi spoke about the rights of girl child.

College Principal Dr Satish Kumar Sharma said the new women was chartering new paths in different vistas of life.

Doraha: Doraha College of Education celebrated the International Women’s Day in the college today.

Mun Mun, a student of the college, gave a lecture on the history and significance of the day.

Dr Gursaran Kaur while reviewing the present status of women in society, said today’s woman needed to continue the struggle she had herself initiated for her emancipation. “Woman has to go a long way till she made a place for herself in this male-dominated society,” she added.

Seminar on business ethics
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, March 9
The GGN Institute of Management and Technology organised a seminar on “Business ethics and corporate governance” for BBA and MBA students. Prof Brendan O’Connell, head of the accounting and finance programme, School of Business, James Cook University, Australia, was the resource person.

Defining business ethics, Professor Connell said it was a form of applied ethics that examined ethical rules and principles within a commercial context. Simplifying it further, he said business ethics was a normative discipline, whereby particular ethical standards were assumed and then applied.

The second part of the seminar focused on the importance of corporate governance. “It is a multi- faceted subject consisting of a set of processes, policies, laws and institutions affecting the way a corporation is directed,” said Prof Connell. Accountability, fiduciary duty and mechanism of auditing and control were important parts of corporate governance. If they were implemented strictly and ethically, then corporate governance could definitely contribute to the success of the organisation, explained Professor Connell.

The Director of the institute, Mr Kuldip Singh, and the Coordinator, Mr Gunwant Singh Dua, were present on the occasion. 

Women’s Day celebrated at Ramgarhia college
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, March 9
A host of activities were organised at Ramgarhia Girls College to mark Women’s Day yesterday. The departments of Home Science and Fine Arts made a joint effort to educate and entertain students.

Lieut-Col Gurpreet Inder Singh, Head of the Department of Community Medicine, DMCH, delivered a lecture on “Sex determination and female foeticide”. He talked about the alarming trend seen in Indian society regarding the craze for a male child. The scene in Punjab was rather dismal, he said. The need of the hour was to educate women about their rights, and also for society to understand the consequences of the imbalance that was being created, he added.

‘Aakriti’, an exhibition, was put up by the Departments of Home Science and Fine Arts.

Mr Ranjodh Singh, president of the Ramgarhia Educational Council, inaugurated the exhibition. He appreciated the colourful show put by fine arts students.

Competition of gardeners: A competition of gardners for the beautification and maintenance of parks and lawns was held at the Government College for Women, Ludhiana, on Thursday.

Dr Grewal, associate professor, Department of Horticulture and Floriculture, Dr r.K. Dubey and Ms Manju Sahni were the judges. The lawn maintained by Mr Hakam Singh, Mr Sukhwinder Singh and Vinod Kumar got the first prize. Shiv Bodh and Sukhwinder Singh got the second prize for their effort while, the lawn maintained by Ram Milan Satpal, Sardar Singh and Charanjit Singh got the third prize.

Ms Prabhjot Kaur, Principal, and Mr Grewal honoured the winners

LCET function: The Ludhiana College of Engineering and Technology observed Women’s Day on Wednesday. The Principal, faculty and students came together to express their views in the form of speech and poetry. The topics chosen were related to the role of woman in society.

Students line up for Ms Farewell contest at Arya College, Ludhiana, on Thursday. A Tribune photograph

COURTS

Reliance Info told to refund amount
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, March 9
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed the Reliance Infocom to refund the security amount of Rs 1,000 to a consumer. The company has also been ordered to pay Rs 500 as costs to the aggrieved consumer.

The orders were pronounced by Mr A. S. Narula, president and Ms Pooja Dewan, member of the forum, while deciding the complaint filed by city lawyer Nipun Gupta.

The complainant had submitted that he had surrendered the mobile handset provided by the company but it failed to refund the security amount which was refundable. After taking into consideration the contentions of both parties, the forum held that the written statement filed by the company was silent about the refund of security amount. So, it should refund the security amount.

HEALTH

Health centres not in good health: study
Vimal Sumbly
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, March 9
People are not satisfied with the treatment in primary health centres. They complain about the inadequacy of medicines, lack of proper attention by the staff and no proper sitting arrangement. Moreover, doctors are neither punctual nor regular in duty. People rue absence of proper toilet and lack of proper arrangement for water and electricity. Moreover, patients suffering from diabetes, anaemia, reproductive health problems, E.N.T. and eye problems have to go to the block level health centres.

These are the findings of a study, "Health problems in rural Punjab-status, causes and consequences" undertaken by Mandeep Kaur for her doctoral research. She is from Department of Human Development and Sociology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana.

Primary data was collected from 12 villages of Ludhiana, Amritsar and Bathinda districts. In all, total sample consisted of 300 respondents, who were suffering from health problems.

Study showed the inadequacy of the trained medical professionals. Only one health centre had a testing laboratory while in the rest of villages there were neither lab-testing facilities nor laboratory technicians. Surprisingly, even the auxiliary nurse midwife was available in only two centres and not a single doctor was appointed in the villages of Bathinda district under study.

Interestingly, the study observed that each village had four to eight quacks. The reason for their popularity was their easy availability, low cost of medicines and "satisfactory treatment”. The home remedies followed by villagers included home-made products of medicinal plants, ajwain, saunf, drinking desi tea and applying haldi on wounds.

Dr Mandeep Kaur observed that even today 43 per cent villagers went to babas for cure of diseases.

This study highlights that the government-run medical institutions lacked basic health facilities and staff. Some suggestions are also given in the study to improve the health set-up in the government health centres.

Respondents suggested that medicines should be adequate and not outdated and 67 per cent respondents said health facilities should be adequate in the centres. Over 50 per cent suggested that more doctors and health officials should be appointed, while 37.5 per cent opined that voluntary organisations should help. Further, 16.6 per cent said doctors and health officials should be regular and punctual and better pay should be given to the staff. Respondents also suggested that specialists should visit the health centres frequently to help the people.

Keeping in view the overall scenario of the health institutions, it seems imperative to rejuvenate the health system enabling the people to lead a healthy life.